EAST Interview: Jacob Borshard's Indomitable Whimsicality

Your series that we will being seeing during E.A.S.T. is based on the traditional Japanese woodblock and painting technique called Ukiyo-e, only instead of courtesans and kabuki, we'll see toys from the 80's. How did this idea develop?

I always said that if I were to get a giant tattoo on my back, it would be a Ukiyo-e snow scene with a Godzilla-sized 'My Pet Monster' destroying a feudal Japanese village. I never got the tattoo, and could never convince any one else to get it, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone, so finally I sat down and drew the picture. The rest of the show was only meant to justify the My Pet Monster print, but it's turned out better than I'd hoped. Have you ever seen JEM's boobies? Well, now you can.

What is your favorite toy from the 1980's?

Battle-Damage Skeletor has got to be very close to my heart.

Please describe your creative process.

I imagine a certain thing, and everything is great. Then I start to draw it and everything goes wrong. Then I patch up what I can, and sometimes in the end it looks very good, despite everything I've done to it.

The artist Jacob Borshard, his ukulele and a drawing in progress

Okay. I'm a songwriter, and I play the ukulele. I just finished my third album of original songs, 'A Glow in the Dark'. I draw all the artwork for my music, and the two come from the same spirit.

We know that you released a couple of song interpretations from the movie Cocktail. Do you have a deep love for cheezy 80's pop icons, or are you lampooning them? A little bit of both?

A lot of both. The best lampoons are born of love.

Do you have a favorite strip or particular piece that you are most proud of?

Every picture, comic or song is just one little dot. I hope to create enough dots so that someone willing to connect them all will get a complete picture of my mind, heart and soul. I think that's the best thing an artist can do, and the pursuit of that big picture is what I hope to be most proud of.

What do you do when you aren't drawing or ukuleleing?

I like to kiss my girlfriend, get a twist cone from Sandie's, walk around museums, build up and/or ride old Schwinns, and attend any kind of nerdy collector convention.

Who are your favorite cartoonists?

Matt Groening, Charles Schulz, George Herriman.

If you could only visit one other studio during E.A.S.T. which would it be and why?

My one desire is as many as possible. I would visit studios 51 - 100, because last year I only got through 1 - 50.

Thanks for chatting with Austinist, Jacob! We hope to see you somewhere between studios 74 and 88.